John T. Floyd is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and recognized by Thomson Reuters’ in its list of prominent lawyers designated as SuperLawyers. For over twenty years, John Floyd has successfully represented business and individuals under investigation or charged with serious criminal allegations in state courts throughout Texas and federal courts nationwide. Mr. Floyd’s primary practice is focused on defending those suspected or accused of serious crimes in federal courts; including allegations of large, white collar frauds, high profile sex crimes, public corruption and large-scale drug trafficking conspiracies. Mr. Floyd Travels to State Courts Throughout Texas and Federal Courts Nationwide. Principal Office located at 4900 Woodway Dr., Houston, Texas 77056. All other locations by appointment only.
El Paso lies in far West Texas, sitting just across the border from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. El Paso is the home to nearly 700,000 residents, a large military veteran population, and the William Beaumont Army Medical Center. It is also home to one of the Army’s largest complexes, Fort Bliss, and the Biggs Army Airfield.
Ciudad Juarez is home to an estimated 1.5 million people. There are over 22 million border crossings a year between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez.
Given its proximity to the border and the large number of border crossings, El Paso hosts a significant number of federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies: DEA domestic field division, the El Paso Intelligence Center (DEA and ICE), Joint Task Force North (DOD), U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector, U.S. Border Patrol Special Operations Group and, of course, the FBI, El Paso Division.
These agencies exist to combat the crime that enters into the United States through El Paso a d and spreads throughout the United States. Whether it is major fraud, public corruption, large cartel drug smuggling operations or terrorism investigations, federal law enforcement in El Paso is aggressive, sometimes themselves violating the laws they have sworn to enforce.
According to the Pew Research Center, illegal entry (8 U.S.C. § 1325) and illegal reentry (8 U.S.C. § 1326) are now the most prosecuted crimes in the United States. Pew reports that over the past two decades, illegal reentry accounts for 48 percent of all convictions in federal courts.
In response to the massive resources spent on investigating, detaining and prosecuting immigration crimes, the U.S. Attorney General has recently instructed all U.S. Attorneys to refocus and prioritize its prosecutions on national security, violent crime, and financial fraud cases.
In response to this mandate, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in El Paso works closely with the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) to combine the resources and expertise of federal and state law enforcement agencies in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.
Crime in El Paso also has an increasing relationship to organized gangs.
In April 2015, federal and state law enforcement authorities arrested 976 gang members from 239 distinctive groups, most with ties to Mexican drug cartels.
661 of the gang members were arrested in El Paso, according to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a component of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) describes El Paso as one of the busiest border crossings in the country and, thus, is one of the biggest drug trafficking corridors in the United States.
The DEA regularly touts its seizure of tons of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine entering the U.S. through trucks and convoys of vehicles in the El Paso corridor. The feds also seize millions of dollars in cash and property in relation to their drug enforcement efforts.
In 2015, El Paso experienced a significant spike in gang-related murders and shootings, according to the El Paso Police Department. The EPPD responded to this violent criminal activity with increased police stops that produced significant arrests for illegal firearms and drugs.
El Paso District Attorney’s Office Jaime Esparza concedes there are “lots of drug crimes,” intoxication manslaughters, and aggravated robberies in the city.
One major priority in the DA’s office is the prosecution of family violence crimes.
Created in 2008, the office’s 24-Hour Contact Domestic Violence Initiative brings together a number of social services agencies that are normally disconnected from each by independent objectives. Since its inception, the district attorney’s office had 70 percent of its domestic violence cases ready for prosecution within 24 hours.
Beyond its prevalence of domestic violent, El Paso has a significant gang violence problem due its close proximity with Mexican drug cartels whose influence is increasing in the city.
Article 71 of the Texas Penal Code allows the District Attorney to prosecute individuals with “engaging in organized criminal activity” if they join with two or more persons in criminal activity such as: murder, robbery or aggravated robbery, arson, burglary, assault or aggravated assault, sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault, theft, and kidnapping.
If you or someone you love is arrested or charged with a crime in El Paso, it is vitally important for you to exercise your rights immediately upon contact with law enforcement. Do not talk to law enforcement without a lawyer.
You should contact an experienced Texas defense attorney who has a track record of success in cases just like yours.
John T. Floyd has been representing individuals and businesses in El Paso for more than 20 years, securing positive outcomes for them in both state and federal courts. He believes that everyone deserves a strong defense – regardless of the charges or accusations against them.
Being arrested or charged with either a state or federal criminal offense in El Paso can change the course of your life. Some mistakenly believe that felonies are “serious” while misdemeanors not a big deal.
That is definitely not the case. Both types of charges can come with potential jail or prison time; both may carry big fines and other penalties; both can do serious damage to the reputation of a business; and both will earn you a criminal record.
There are also many collateral consequences for having been convicted of a criminal offense in Texas.
Employment. Many occupations (such as lawyers, doctors, contractor, nurse, etc.) require a license to work. Section 53.021 of the Texas Occupations Code authorize Texas licensing authorities to revoke, suspend, or deny a license to anyone convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. In El Paso, many DOD related jobs require special clearances and background checks, which can be derailed by a criminal record.
Education: Any student convicted of the possession or sale of a controlled substance can lose or be denied financial assistance under the Federal Student Loans and Grants program, or the forfeiture of a prepaid scholarship.
Asset forfeiture: Serious drug and white collar convictions result of forfeiture of cash, vehicles, homes, personal property, and businesses.
Firearm: A conviction of more than one year will result in loss of the right to own or possess a firearm or ammunition.
Housing: Federal housing policies permit the exclusion of drug offenders from federally subsidized or funded housing. Most rental applications ask if you’ve ever been convicted of a felony.
Civil rights: A felony conviction results in the loss of the right to vote, run for public office, be appointed to a public office, or serve on a jury.
Because of the wide range of criminal penalties associated with state felony convictions in Texas, any one charged with a criminal offense in El Paso County needs an aggressive and experienced criminal defense attorney.
Federal felony convictions can also lead to civil forfeitures that result in the loss of personal property, including cash, homes, vehicles, planes, and other personal belongings
The proceeds from forfeited property go into the coffers of law enforcement agencies, not the government treasury. Thus, the police have an incentive to seize and forfeit as much property as possible, regardless of whether it is actually tied to an offender’s offense-related activity.
Beyond the possibility of serious time in a federal prison, federal felony convictions have significant personal collateral consequences. They can disqualify you for a job in the health care industry, government, private security, law enforcement, many areas of the criminal justice system, and any other job requiring a security clearance.
They can, and most likely will, have adverse impact on your employment prospects with companies that routinely run criminal background checks prior to their decision to hire. They can also have a serious impact on your ability to rent a suitable residence as property owners also frequently run background checks, refusing to rent or lease to ex-felons.
Hire a serious criminal lawyer.
John T. Floyd’s relentless pursuit of justice and aggressive defense strategies has helped individuals and businesses alike battle charges and obtain positive results in cases that other lawyers thought “hopeless.” Sometimes this means getting charges reduced. Other times, it means getting the charges dropped completely. Mr. Floyd succeeds for his clients by taking every case seriously and exploring every possible strategy to destroy the government’s case.
Mr. Floyd’s ability to achieve excellent results for his clients stems from his knowledge of criminal law and meticulous instinct for detail. He understands both the law’s complexities and nuances, and understands what it takes to go up against all the resources both state and federal prosecutors use against criminal defendants.
In the state of Texas and across the nation, Mr. Floyd is known as an authority on federal and Texas criminal law. Providing unparalleled legal representation to his clients for over two decades, these legal efforts has won him numerous professional accolades and recognition:
Avvo – 10/10 Rating, Clients’ Choice Award 2008-2015
H Texas Magazine – Houston’s Top Lawyers 2007-2015
National Trial Lawyers – Top 100 Trial Lawyers 2015
Newsweek – Leading Criminal Defense Attorneys 2014
State Bar of Texas – Top 10 Blog Posts 2015
SuperLawyers – 2014-2015
BBC – interviewed as criminal law expert
Chron – Featured in article in 2015
CNSNews – Featured in article in 2012
Fox News –interviewed as criminal law experton multiple occasions
Hannity and Colmes – interviewed as criminal law expert
HGExperts – Featured in article in 2008
Houston’s iHeartRadio Channel 93.7 – regular legal commentator
NPR – interviewed as criminal law expert
The Huffington Post – Featured in article in 2013
Victoria Advocate – Featured in article in 2011
While, Mr. Floyd does not take the professional respect and acclaim he has achieved for granted, he understands that his greatest achievement lies in the successful outcomes he has obtained for his individual clients through the years.
The law is ever changing. Mr. Floyd and his staff pride themselves staying abreast of all these changes in order to best serve his clients.
The John T. Floyd Law Firm is not diverse in its practice. His firm only handles Texas and federal criminal cases. This permits a strong focus on one area of law. The following is a list of practice areas related to criminal law that is firm handles:
Federal law enforcement in El Paso is aggressive in its investigations and prosecutions in all these areas. This can sometimes lead to unprofessional law enforcement investigations and dirty tricks that cast a wide net to ensnare as many suspects as possible, sometimes wrongly accusing innocent individuals. Aggressive investigations too often lead to entrapment, faulty search warrants, unlawful dog sniff searches, concealment of exculpatory evidence, and a host of other constitutional violations.
Mr. Floyd understands the value of a forceful pretrial motion strategy to not only discover everything in the prosecution’s case but also the hidden evidence that law enforcement and federal prosecutors would like to keep secret. It is in these efforts that Mr. Floyd often finds the details that lead to revelations of improper law enforcement conduct.
Have other defense lawyers in El Paso let you down? Are they afraid of the tough federal judges in El Paso? Have you heard that your case is “hopeless” and that you need to plead guilty?
You will never hear this from John T. Floyd.
There are no hopeless cases. A skilled criminal attorney can find a way to get a better deal or to win the case altogether. In fact, one of the reasons many people and businesses turn to Mr. Floyd to represent their high-profile case is his willingness to work diligently on their case, while using his knack of turning “losers” into “winners.”
What all of this really means is this: do not give up hope. In the face of tough prosecutors and devastating potential penalties, many people lose faith and give up hope, falling into a trap that can have devastating consequences. With an experienced federal criminal lawyer by your side you can make intelligent decisions with a clear mind and find your way through a potentially dangerous situation.
That is why you need John T. Floyd. He will always fight relentlessly to get you the best possible outcome, utilizing his legal skills in and out of the courtroom.
But you need to act fast.
The earlier Mr. Floyd can start crafting your defense, the better your chances at a positive outcome. You can reach The John T. Floyd Law Firm by calling 713-224-0101, emailing jfloyd@johntfloyd.com, or simply completing our confidential case review form online. Let us be your lifeline.
Posted By: John Floyd
Last month, we posted a piece about a landmark decision, Heath v. State, in which the Texas Court…
Posted By: John Floyd
In the wake of the infamous 2019 Harding Street “no-knock” raid by the Houston Police Department that left…
Fields marked with an * are required
"*" indicates required fields